Oshawa Miffed After Apparent Snub by GM's Mary Barra

There’s no hurt feelings like a city council’s hurt feelings.

Oshawa, Ontario, home to TTAC’s managing editor and General Motors Canada headquarters, is feeling a little invisible after an invite delivered last June to GM CEO Mary Barra failed to result in a visit.

The invite came at the onset of tense Detroit Three labor contract negotiations, when it seemed like Oshawa’s assembly plant was living on very borrowed time. Ultimately, the plant was granted a reprieve, though the city remains nervous about the long-term viability of the plant and GM’s commitment to it.

After seven months of being the wallflower at the dance, city councilors want some up close and personal face time.

While GM pledged new investment in its Canadian workforce, including 700 new technical jobs scattered across several testing and development sites, Oshawa remains in the business of building cars and trucks.

Models like the Chevrolet Impala and Camaro have bled away, and the Buick Regal will soon have a German home. The automaker’s crossover plant in Ingersoll, Ontario can now handle its full complement of Chevrolet Equinox, meaning Oshawa isn’t needed for final assembly. That leaves the Cadillac XTS and a stopgap deal that will swap Equinox final assembly with that of an unspecified pickup truck.

While new product is promised, GM hasn’t announced what savior appear, or when. Oshawa would like the opportunity to find out, and perhaps perform some public relations with the GM head.

According to Oshawa This Week, mayor John Henry reissued the invite in January. Barra responded by saying she would consider it a trip if her schedule allows it. To once councilor, the response and lack of appearance over the past seven months amounts to a snub.

Nancy Diamond said Barra’s letter reads like “thanks very much, but I’m not really interested.”

“If we don’t stand up for these workers, I don’t think anybody else will and Mary Barra’s answer is inadequate,” she said on January 30th.

The Renaissance Center in Detroit is just under five hours away from Oshawa by car, and the city contains an executive airport. Of course, there’s no denying that Barra’s schedule must be among the most packed in the nation, with no shortage of new considerations brought on by the election.

City council, doing what city councils do, ultimately passed a motion to express the city’s disappointment in a letter to GM.

[Image: General Motors]